Interior Department Flips Switch on First Public Lands Solar Project

Officials flipped the switch to start Silver State North, a 50-megawatt solar plant located 40 miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Credit: Enbridge

U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on May 7 flipped the switch to start the first large-scale solar energy facility on U.S. public lands delivering power to consumers. Silver State North is a 50-megawatt plant located 40 miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada, that will use photovoltaic (PV) technology to generate enough power for about 9,000 Nevada homes. The plant was built on 618 acres of public land managed by Interior's Bureau of Land Management, after the solar facility underwent full environmental analysis and public review. It was developed by First Solar and is owned by Enbridge.

Prior to 2009, there were no solar energy projects permitted on public lands. Since then, the Interior Department has authorized 29 large-scale renewable energy projects on or involving public lands, including 16 solar facilities, 5 wind farms, and 8 geothermal plants. See the Interior Department press release.

View the original article here

National Laboratory 'Flips Switch' on East Coast's Largest Solar Array

On November 18, the DOE Brookhaven National Laboratory "flipped the switch" on the largest solar photovoltaic array in the eastern United States. The 164,312 solar panels hosted at the lab in New York state—one of the largest solar farms built on federal property—will produce enough energy to power up to 4,500 homes.

The 32-megawatt Long Island Solar Farm Project, a collaborative project between the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and BP Solar International, Inc. (BP Solar), also boasts the smallest carbon footprint of any solar array with its amount of output. The use of a DOE site has helped attract investments from public and private sources, ensuring the economic success of the project and serving the nation's goal to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil.

"The result is a significant source of clean energy for Long Island, as well as a positive economic impact for the local workforce and businesses," said Mike Petrucci, CEO of BP Solar, noting that a true "team effort" contributed to the successful development and construction of the project. LIPA chief operating officer Michael D. Hervey said that the project will help New York state meet its goal of 30% renewable resources by 2015, in addition to the "creation of new, high-quality energy jobs." See the Energy Blog post.

View the original article here